Iain Gray, Labour's leader at Holyrood, said the comments were humiliating for Mr Salmond and claimed the First Minister's comparisons with Norway are "embarrassing and a distraction."

Jeremy Purvis, Scottish Liberal Democrat finance spokesman, said: "Alex Salmond will be re-programming his economic sat-nav to find a new country to emulate.
"This slap-down from Norway should be the signal that he now needs to spend more time on policies and budgets that he is responsible for and give up the armchair punditry."

The First Minister has repeatedly pointed to a £35billion bond issue by the Norwegian government as evidence that small, independent nations can cope in the current financial crisis.

But Mr Store said the action was completely different from Westminster's £37billion rescue package for RBS, HBOS and Lloyds TSB, a deal that Gordon Brown has claimed an independent Scotland would not have been able to match.

He added: "The Norwegian banks from the outset held a very high standard and the Norwegian government has not bailed out any banks."

The UK enjoys good relations with Norway and the latter's government in exile was based in London during its Nazi occupation in the Second World War. Mr Store said: "I would be upset to think Norway's experience has become a source of division or strife between friends in other countries."


http://http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/3280030/Alex-Salmond-refuses-to-back-down-after-Norway-says-were-not-like-Scotland..html
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The 'SCOTCH' What's he talking about, a drink, does he mean The Scots, what a complete **** he must feel when he is told about this mistake, I suppose It's one way of alienating a nation.
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I suppose yer right, the Scots have 5 fingers and toes 2 feet, hands arms and legs, 1 body and 1 head.
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What is wriong with calling Scotties "Scotch"?

Scotch means coming from Scotland and not just referring to Scottish Whisky
Scotch (adjective - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
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Touchy bugggers yer Jocks!
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Actually I think it was the Norwegians who objected to Fat Alex's raptures of affinity.

Not surprising really, the Norwegians are a proud independent sovereign people who have twice given the EU a one fingered salute while Mr Salmond craves the opportunity to whore his newly prospective independent state to Brussels.

By the way Salmond, since North Sea oil peaked in 99' and has declined massively since then, whilst Norway still has considerable reserves, the comparison is horseshit. That supertanker has already sailed I'm afraid.
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Originally Posted by angelman:
What is wriong with calling Scotties "Scotch"?

Scotch means coming from Scotland and not just referring to Scottish Whisky
Scotch (adjective - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

It is rather like the N word. It depends on the context, this :-) is obviously using it in an offensive way.
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Originally Posted by BonnieDundee:
It is rather like the N word. It depends on the context, this :-) is obviously using it in an offensive way.

That's true, but of course the idea that Scots people never called themself 'Scotch' is absurd. Hume, Boswell and other educated Georgians frequently used the word.

'Scots' is to be preferred because it is judged to be better English, in the same way that Voltaire enjoined educated Frenchmen to prefer 'Anglais' and 'Francais' over 'Anglois' and 'Francois' which were probably more common in his time (the courtly pronunciation was very similar).

No doubt the educated Victorians who insisted upon 'Scots' above 'Scotch' were also most particular to address their letters 'NB' or 'North Britain'.

From this has developed the ignorant and stupid idea that Scotch' is a kind of insult and as a result other stupid and ignorant people such as the poster above have used it as exactly that.

The notion has been around for quite a long time because when Cutty Sark Whisky was launched in (I think) the 1920s it was branded 'Scots Whisky' This strange anomaly has only recently disappeared.

Another piece of stupidity is the idea that only the Irish variety can be spelt 'whiskey'. In fact the two spellings were always interchangeable.
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